This invention relates to a row-crop harvesting header and more particularly to a multi-row header for a forage harvester or the like.
It is known to provide harvesting attachments or headers for forage harvesters for removing row planted crops from the field and delivering it to the forage harvester, although heretofore most row-crop headers have been capable of harvesting only one or two rows of crop material at a time. However, with the increasing capacity of forage harvesters, and the overall trend toward larger machines, a need for larger headers has arisen, and it is known to provide headers that are capable of harvesting three rows of row planted crops in each pass. Generally headers of this type utilized rearwardly converging crop gathering means for conveying the crop material to the relatively narrow forage harvester feed opening. However, space limitations at the rearward end of the header have presented a problem for converging the three row gathering system, and it would be extremely difficult to accommodate more than three rows utilizing the conventional forage harvester row-crop header concepts. With the trend toward still larger machines, a need has arisen for headers capable of harvesting more than three rows of crops. This need has become more acute with the increasing use of corn stover as a livestock feed, it being desirable to harvest more than three rows of stover at one pass through the field to utilize the full capacity of the harvester, since a much smaller amount of crop material is available in each row when harvesting stover than in the more conventional forage crops, such as whole plant corn.
It is also known to provide row-crop attachments for combine harvesting platforms, wherein the row-crop units deliver the crop to the combine cutter bar which servers it from the field, the crop moving directly rearwardly to a conventional auger which converges the crop and delivers it rearwardly to the separating mechanism in the combine, such an attachment being shown in U.S. patent 3,201,928. It is further known to provide individual row units that utilize separate cutting mechanism on each row unit and also utilize a pair of belts for grasping the butt of the severed crop and delivering it rearwardly through a transverse auger, such a header being shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,808,783, although the header disclosed in said patent is primarily for row-crops such as soybeans and was not designed for use with a forage harvester that harvests row-crops such as whole plant corn.